Epithelia constitute the primary barrier between host and the potentially harmful environment, and therefore the protection of this interface is vital. A wound represents a broken barrier and immediately sets in motion a series of tightly orchestrated events with the purpose to promptly reinstate the integrity of the barrier. Urgent wound closure has evolved in higher organisms, diverging from the time-consuming process of complete regeneration of tissue seen in lower species. Impaired wound healing represents a major challenge in clinical medicine ranging from the relative delay in “normal” healing seen with increasing age to pathologic non-healing ulcers.
Chronic ulcers constitute a major clinical problem and although our understanding of the physiologic wound process has increased over the past decades only minor therapeutic improvements have been attained. Distinct etiologies may underlie the development of ulcerations in different clinical conditions but, whatever the cause, non-healing ulcers are characterized by an inability of the epithelium to migrate, proliferate and close the barrier defect. The most common type of chronic skin ulcers is leg ulcers due to venous insufficiency. These patients develop peripheral venous oedema with subsequent ulceration of the skin, whereas the arterial circulation is intact. Leg and foot ulcers due to arteriosclerotic deficiencies are less common.
In addition, skin ulcers develop in association with immune diseases such as pyoderma gangrenosum and vasculitis. Current treatment includes long-term systemic immunosuppression and is not always effective. Epithelial defects and ulcers in the oral, genital and gastrointestinal mucous membranes are common and cause much distress. The underlying pathomechanisms are not always clear, such as in aphtae and erosive lichen and treatment is poor.
Traditional wound care involves removal, mechanically or enzymatically, of necrotic debris to allow formation of granulation tissue. Wounds that are heavily colonized with bacteria may require antiseptic treatment to prevent invasive infection. Numerous topical anti-microbial agents are used, such as iodine, chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, silver and antibiotics, but the risk of toxic effects of these agents on the matrix and the neoepidermis must be considered. Once the wound is clean of necrotic tissue, dressings should be used to promote granulation tissue formation. A large variety of such dressings are available and numerous animal studies and clinical trials have demonstrated their beneficial effect on wound healing.
A certain proportion of wounds remain therapy-resistant and there is need for additional treatment. During the past decade there has been much focus on the potential use of growth factors to accelerate wound repair. Growth factors are molecules, which control cellular processes that are critical in tissue repair, including cell migration, proliferation, angiogenesis and de novo synthesis of extracellular matrix. The beneficial effect of such growth factors has been suggested in a wide variety of trials (Scharffetter-Kochanek et al., Basic Res Cardiol 93:1-3, 1999). However, to date growth factor treatment of chronic ulcers has been largely disappointing in clinical practice. At present becaplermin (Regranex®), licensed in U.S. and Europe but not in Sweden, is the only growth factor for use, preferentially in diabetic foot ulcers. The reasons for clinical failure of growth factors in the treatment of chronic ulcers are thought to involve delivery problems and rapid degradation.
In parallel, there has been development of tissue therapies using autologous and allogenic materials in bioengineered human skin equivalents. Cultured epidermal keratinocytes constitute a functioning treatment for coverage of large areas of injured skin in e.g. burn patients, but is expensive, time consuming and requires laboratory facilities. To provide a dermal substrate multiple strategies have been used such as acellular human cadaver and bovine collagen with or without cells. All methods available have considerable disadvantages such as potential transmission of disease and high costs and are hardly suited for basic wound care.
Antimicrobial peptides are effector molecules of the innate immune system, which serve to protect the host against potentially harmful microorganisms. They are conserved through evolution and are widespread in nature. In human, only a handful has been identified so far; among which the defensins and the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide hCAP18 have been implicated in epithelial defense (Selsted et al., J Biol Chem 258:14485-14489, 1983).
WO 96/08508 relates to the human polypeptide FALL-39, as well as to pharmaceutical compositions containing said peptide and having an antimicrobial activity against bacteria. The peptide was named FALL-39 after the first four amino acid residues and consisted of the 39 amino acid C-terminal part of a proprotein concomitantly identified by three separate groups (Cowland et al. FEBS, 1995; Agerberth et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1995; Larrick et al. FEBS Letters 1996). The peptide was shown to have potent antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Further characterization of the C-terminal peptide demonstrated a shorter sequence comprising 37 amino acids excluding the first two (FA) resulting in LL-37, which is the accepted current designation (Gudmundsson et al., Eur J Biochem 238:325-332, 1996).
The proprotein was named hCAP18, human cationic anti-microbial protein, and is a member of the cathelicidin family of proteins consisting of cathelin, which has been conserved through evolution and a C-terminal part, variable in different species. In man, hCAP18 is the only member of this protein family, whereas in other species, such as mouse and pig, there are several members. The C-terminal peptide LL-37 is thought to function extracellularly and there is no evidence for intracellular cleavage of the pro-protein. hCAP18/LL-37 is present in leukocytes and in barrier organs such as skin, mucous membranes, respiratory epithelium and reproductive organs. The localization of hCAP18/LL-37 to barrier epithelia seems to be consistent with a protective role for the peptide in preventing local infection and systemic microbial invasion. LL-37 is described as a cysteine-free peptide that can adopt an amphiphatic, or in other words amphiphilic, α-helical conformation. A high cationicity in combination with a stabilized amphiphatic α-helical structure seems to be required for the anti-microbial effect of such peptides against gram-positive bacteria and fungi, as has been shown experimentally (Giangaspero et al. Eur J Biochem 268:5589-5600, 2001). The amphiphatic and α-helical structure seems to be less critical for killing of gram-negative bacteria. In association with inflammation hCAP18/LL-37 is upregulated in skin epithelium (Frohm et al. J Biol Chem 272:15258-15263, 1997) and mucous membranes (Frohm Nilsson et al., Infect Immun 67:2561-2566, 1999).